Thu., 10:01 pm: Small bomb explodes at Hawaii school; nobody hurt

January 30, 2014

HILO, Hawaii - A small bomb exploded today outside an auditorium at a Hawaii high school, prompting a brief campus lockdown but apparently causing no injuries, authorities said.

Police said two students, both 16-year-old boys, were in custody. It wasn't clear if the device was meant to hurt anyone or if it was a prank.

The small device exploded at Hilo High School on the Big Island around 11:15 a.m. and was being described as a "bottle bomb," Hawaii Department of Education spokesman Alex Da Silva said.

It went off on a walkway leading to the auditorium, he said. A class was in session in the auditorium, but nobody was near the explosion.

Nobody was allowed to leave or enter the campus during the lockdown, but police and fire officials gave an all-clear less than two hours later after finding no other devices on campus, Da Silva said. Classes resumed, and students were released at their normal time.

"Police recovered the remnants of a plastic liquid container and unidentified liquid substance," police said in a news release.

The school of about 1,250 students is on the east side of the Big Island.